VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

(Letters)

November 03, 2007

Keeping one's home

I find it incredulous that people are whining about their mortgage crisis plights -- as if someone else caused the problem. It takes, at best, a 3rd-grade education to know that if you sign an interest-only or ARM home loan, you will likely eventually have to pay the piper!

The first mortgage our family obtained, after saving money for many years, was at 13 percent. We did not have a high income, so I worked several jobs at the same time to pay the bills. We did whatever it took.

I read recently of a family that lost its home and declared bankruptcy because an interest-rate increase caused its payment to go up by $700. Anyone can earn an additional few hundred dollars a month -- especially if it means keeping your home.

No one has a right to housing. It's something that we must work hard for. It appears there are many who don't understand this and are not willing to make that sacrifice. Irresponsible behavior by unwise home purchasers should not be rewarded with any type of government bail-out assistance.

James Carlyle Green

Cedar Hills, Utah

All thumbs

At times I find it fun to thumb through the dictionary discovering previously unknown words or being intrigued by the various meanings and uses of a word. For instance take the word "thumb." This little digit can signal approval or satisfaction (thumbs up) or rejection (thumbs down), a movie rating system patented by Roger Ebert. Chicagoans certainly should be familiar with "to thumb one's nose." This gesture of derision was recently on display at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs were all thumbs in their series with the Diamondbacks.

Signs caution us to ignore somebody wanting to thumb a ride. Also on our avoidance list, coming under a person's thumb.

A book that we enjoy over and over becomes well-thumbed, while one that doesn't hold our interest we may just thumb through.

Just as the hand cannot properly function without the thumb, which is apposable to the other fingers, so our language is more piquant because of the thumb.

This thumbnail sketch is how I spent a recent rainy afternoon.

Bernard Hirsch

Springfield

Lethal injections

Your Oct. 21 editorial "Lethal injection on trial" questions whether or not lethal injection constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment." As an anesthesiologist I gave the first two drugs used in the sequence of lethal injections to thousands of patients. Within about two minutes after injection of the second drug (a muscle relaxant), the surgeon can make an incision and begin the operation. Other drugs are subsequently given to maintain general anesthesia.

Except for very rare cases, the patient wakes up with no memory of pain and looks back upon the anesthetic experience as having been pleasant.

The only reason for pain during lethal injection is failure to give an adequate dose of the first drug (such as Pentothal) through a functioning intravenous site. Thus skilled medical personnel should be the ones to carry out lethal injection.

The American Medical Association disapproves of physicians taking part in executions. I disagree with that position. How ironic that the AMA approves of doctors doing abortions of innocent babies (a violation of the Hippocratic Oath), and yet prevents us from lending our expertise to the carrying out of capital punishment for convicted murderers.